The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems

"The Rape of the Lock," by Alexander Pope is a mock-epic poem inspired by a real-life disagreement involving members of high society. The story centers around Belinda, a beautiful young woman protected by magical Sylphs, whose daily life is disrupted when a baron attempts to snip off a lock of her hair; this act sparks a farcical conflict that the poem uses to poke fun at the shallow values, social rituals, and inflated sense of honor among the 18th-century aristocracy using elegant language and satire.